Freezing tray



April 3, 1934.

H. GEYER FREEZING TRAY Filed June 20. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Apr. 3; 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application June 20, i931, Serial No. 545,651

This invention relates to freezing trays, and more particularly to that type of tray to be used as sliding drawer within the freezing compartment of domestic refrigerators.

I An object of the present invention is to provide a tray that is economically made of flexible non-metallic material that is efficient in freezing contents and which may be easily flexed to facilitate the removal of the frozen contents.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tray in which the container with its frozen contents may be removed from its support and folded in a. neat pack and stored away in a difierent compartment of a refrigerator.

Another object of the present invention is to mold separately a container with very thin walls without metal inserts or supporting frame from which the frozen contents may be easily removed or extracted and which may be conveniently hango dled either when filled with water or frozen contents.

. Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accom- 25 panying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of one form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings": Fig. 1 is a plan view of the assembled unit in which is adapted to be inserted as a sliding drawer into the freezing compartment of a refrigerator. a

Fig. 2 is a side view looking in the direction of arrow 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view looking in the direction of arrow 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 w of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the container showing the removable container in a folded position. v Fig. 7 is a plan view of a modified. form of the tray and supporting member. Fig. 8 is a side view of Fig. '7. Fig. 9 is an end view of Fig. '1. Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on the line iii-10 of Fig. 7. Figs. 11 and 12 are sectional views taken on the 50 lines 11--11, and 12-12 respectively of Fig. 8.

Referring to the drawings, designates as a whole a tray having a metal holder or support 21 and a container or receptacle 22 removably arranged thereon and formed of flexible elastic material, preferably rubber. The holder or support comprises an inverted T-shaped member formed by die casting or made from a sheet metal stamping formed of metal of good heat conductivity, said member having on one end angular flanges or projections 25 and the other end is provided with apertured ears 26. Intermediate the flanges 25 and the ears 26, the T-portion comprises a stem 2'7 and angular arms 28 on which the container 22 is supported. The angular projections 25 and ears 26 are adapted to retain the container 22 on the T-portion of the support 21.

1 The container 22 is provided with a plurality of longitudinal compartments 30 and 31 each having transverse partitions 32 therein forming pockets and are molded integrally with the side walls of the containers. The transverse partitions 32 are formed with suitable apertures 33 near the bottom to equalize the level of the liquid when the tray is being filled with liquid contents. The container has its side walls, bottom walls and partitions molded to the shape and ap proximate thicknesses shown, preferably from high grade flexible rubber, so as to provide sufllcient strength with a minimum thickness and to facilitate the upward flexing of the bottom 30 to remove the frozen ice cubes from the container. Of course the thinner the rubber walls the more rapid will be the freezing of the container contents due to more rapid heat transfer through the thinner walls.

The container is molded in a. double U-formation in which adjacent walls 34 and 35 are joined together by a fold or hinge 36 forming an openbottom groove or recess. The fold is quite flexible and at the same time is of suflicient strength with a minimum thickness to support the compartments 30 and 31 on the holder. When the I tray is placed upon the holder, the hinge 36 engages the edge of the stem 27 of the T-shaped portion of the holder, the walls 34 and 35 lying adjacent the faces 60 of the stem and the bottoms of each compartment engage the arms 28 thereof thereby giving a large cooling surface and hence more rapid freezing. By ths means the container is also held in place and supported against undue deflection when the container is filled with contents to be frozen. By thus providing a support for the compartments 30 and 31, the container may be easily stripped or removed from the support when the contents is frozen and the contaners may be folded into a neat pack so that one of the containers can be placed upon the other, as illustrated in Fig. 6, and stored away ina different place of the refrigerator and another tray, similar in construction, may be filled and placed upon the support and the contents frozen.

Each support is provided with a face plate 40 having a handpiece 41 struck outwardly therefrom. These plates are secured to the cars 26 located on the one end of the support by bolts 44 and nuts 45.

In the modified form shown in Figs. '7 to 12 inclusive, a support 50 is made from a stamping of sheet metal. The support may be efficiently and cheaply made by bending the metal to a U-section, as illustrated in Figs. 9, 10 and 11, and then bend certain portions at right angles to form end flanges 51, longitudinal supporting arms 52 and end flanges 53. A cross member 54 F5 formed of sheet metal with the necessary cutaway portions therein to engage the flanges 53 and having upper and lower edges rolled over said flanges as at 56 to secure the cross member to the support 50. It is to be understood that the cross member 54 may be secured to the flanges 53 in any suitable manner, such as welding, riveting or the like. Attached to the cross member 54 is a plate 5'7. The plate is secured.

to the member 54 in any suitable manner, such as by bolt 44 and nuts 45.

It has been found that the forms of containers shown are consderably cheaper to manufacture, in that the molded flexible containers are molded without any metal therein; the containers are easily placed upon their supports or removed therefrom; and the containers that are damaged may be replaced with another without replacing the support or holder. Since the arms of either form do not extend entirely across the bottoms of the compartments 30 and 31, it is obvious that the bottoms of said compartments may be easily flexed upwardly, while on the support, with the fingers to loosen and remove the frozen contents from one or more of the pockets of the compartments. The containers may be arched relative to each other and only one compartment of the frozen contents may be emptied if so desired.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows: I

1. A freezing tray comprising; a one-piece molded rubber flexible container, said container having a plurality of otherwise separate sections but joined at the upper edges of adjacent walls and forming a hinged connection therebetween, and a metal holder for said container having a portion inserted snugly between said adjacent walls.

2. A freezing tray comprising a one-piece molded rubber flexible container having a plurality of separate sections, each section having individual side walls and a bottom, but with adjacent side walls joined together at the upper portions thereof and forming a hinge connection between said sections, said hinge adapted to be distorted to permit one of said sections to be folded over upon the other section after the contents have been frozen.

3. A freezing tray comprising a molded rubber flexible container having a double-walled closedtop partition dividing said container into two individual compartments said closed-top portion serving asa flexible hinge for permitting one of said compartments to be folded over upon the other compartment.

4. A freezing tray comprising: an elongated one-piece molded rubber flexible container having a longitudinal groove on the bottom dividing the container into a pair of elongated compartments having individual walls and bottoms; and a relatively rigid portable carrier therefor having an inverted T-shaped cross section, the vertical stern portion of said carrier snugly fitting within said groove and the two base portions thereof engaging the bottoms of said pair of elongated compartments respectively and thereby supporting said flexible container.

HARVEY D. GEYER. 

